* Oil prices surge on Libyan unrest, protests in region
* Tribal leader threatens to halt oil exports
* Striking workers stop production at Nafoora - Al Jazeera
(Rewrites throughout)
LONDON/NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices
surged to more than $105 a barrel for the first time since 2008
on Monday on fears that spiraling violence in Libya could lead
to wider supply disruptions from the OPEC member.
U.S. oil prices led the rally to surge by over $5, their
most in more than two years, as traders also rushed to cover
short positions in the key Brent/WTI spread, which had blown
out to an unprecedented $16 a barrel. The April spread narrowed
to nearly $10 on Monday, its thinnest in weeks.
The focus was on deadly clashes in Libya, where one oil
firm was shutting down some 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of
production and others evacuated staff. The leader of the
Al-Zuwayya tribe threatened oil exports to the West would be
cut off unless authorities stopped violence. []
"The market is on edge about the potential for Middle East
and North Africa supply disruptions," said Mike Wittner, head
of commodities research, Americas, at Societe Generale.
"If you've got reports that actual disruptions are starting
to occur, it's going to have a supportive impact. A lot of it
is high-quality crude and that is important as well."
The increasingly violent protests that appeared to put
Muammar Gaddafi's four decades of rule in jeopardy were the
realization of weeks of mounting concerns that Egypt-inspired
unrest would seep into nearby oil producers.
Brent futures <LCOc1>, which have climbed more than $10
this year largely due to the increasing geopolitical risk
premium, jumped $3.23 a barrel or 3.2 percent to $105.75 a
barrel by 1820 GMT, the highest since Sept. 24, 2008.
The March U.S. light, sweet crude oil contract <CLc1>,
which expires on Tuesday, surged by as much as $5.35 a barrel
to hit an intraday high of $91.55, the highest in two weeks.
However, overall trading volume was less than one-third the
30-day average due to the U.S. Presidents Day holiday.
The more-active April contract <CLc2> jumped as much as
$5.75 to a high of $95.47 a barrel, narrowing the Brent/WTI
<CL-LCO1=R> contract by $2.70 to near $10.30 a barrel as
traders covered short positions built up as the spread
ballooned from around $3 in January to a low of $16 last week.
LIBYA UNSETTLES
In Libya scores were killed in anti-government protests as
one of the region's bloodiest revolts hit Tripoli for the first
time, while army units defected to the opposition and Gaddafi's
son vowed to fight to the last man standing. []
On Sunday, Shaikh Faraj al Zuway, the leader of the
Al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya, told Al Jazeera: "We will
stop oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours" should
the violence not stop.
Ninety percent of Libyan oil exports come from the eastern
region of Cyrenaica, epicenter of the revolt, and unrest there
could pose a graver threat to oil supplies than in other
nations if separatists targeted infrastructure and looked for a
bigger slice of revenues, analysts say. []
"Libya is a significant producer and exporter of good
quality crude oil, and threats by the tribal leader to stop
production are worrisome," said Christophe Barret, an oil
analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.
Wintershall, the oil and gas exploration arm of BASF AG
<BASF.DE>, said on Monday it was winding down Libyan oil
production of as much as 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), about 6
percent of output in Africa's No. 3 producer.
Other companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc <RDSa.L>,
ENI <ENI.MI> and OMV <OMVV.VI> said production was proceeding
normally but they were withdrawing expatriate staff. The United
States has ordered all nonemergency personnel to leave Libya.
[]
OPEC IN FOCUS
A wave of popular unrest in North Africa and the Middle
East has already toppled long-time leaders in Tunisia and
Egypt, and traders are watching events carefully in other
members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) for signs of escalating tension.
While protests continued in Bahrain and Yemen, the greater
fear was that discontent among majority Shi'ites in Bahrain who
are protesting against the Sunni government might spread to
Saudi Arabia's own Shi'ite minority -- who mostly live in the
eastern province, the source of the kingdom's oil wealth.
"The biggest concern is current contagion spreading to
Saudi Arabia," said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC
Markets, adding that "markets hate uncertainty and will act
first, think later."
The turmoil is complicating OPEC's effort to maintain a
stable oil price, with ministers gathering for a
producer-consumer conference in Riyadh seeking to keep the
focus on fundamentals rather than geopolitical risk.
"We are ready to put more oil in the market in case there is
need for it," UAE Oil Minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli said
on Monday. But he added: "The market is well-supplied."
[]
Deputy Saudi Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman
Al-Saud reiterated the kingdom's over two-year-old policy of
using $70 to $80 as a "fair" price for oil. []
(Reporting by Jessica Donati and Jonathan Leff; editing by
Anthony Barker and Gerald E. McCormick)
